Reporter 21/5/03: Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos

Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos

(Statutes and Ordinances, p. 343)

With effect from 1 October 2003

The regulations have been amended to replace the compulsory dissertation in Part II of the Tripos by a year abroad project which will comprise either a conventional dissertation or a translation project.

Regulation 9.

By inserting in line 4 after the word 'dissertations' the words 'year abroad projects,'.

Regulation 24.

By replacing the reference to a dissertation in sub-paragraphs (a)(ii) and (d)(ii) by reference to a year abroad project, and by removing the word 'second' from the third line in sub-paragraph (a)(iii) and from the fourth line in sub-paragraph (d)(iii).

Regulation 26.

By amending the regulation so as to read:

26. A year abroad project or dissertation offered under Regulation 24 shall be submitted in accordance with the provisions set out in sub-paragraphs (a)-(h) below.

(a) Every year abroad project offered under Regulation 24(a)(ii) or (d)(ii) shall be on a subject that falls within the field of modern and medieval languages, including linguistics and comparative studies. A dissertation offered under Regulation 24(a)(iii), (b)(ii), (c)(ii), or (d)(iii) (henceforward termed an optional dissertation) shall be on a subject that falls within the scope of a paper from Schedule II.

(b) Year abroad project

Every candidate who is required to offer a year abroad project shall give notice to the Secretary of the Faculty Board, in accordance with the following arrangements, of the general area within which the subject of the proposed project will fall:

(i) A student who is a candidate under Regulation 24(a) shall give notice of the subject by a date announced by the Faculty Board, which shall be not later than the first weekday after the division of the Easter Term in the year next but one preceding the examination. If, after giving such notice, a candidate subsequently wishes to revise her or his choice of subject and to offer a project on a subject that falls within a general area different from that notified, he or she must seek the permission of the Faculty Board not later than the division of the Full Lent Term in the year next preceding the examination.

(ii) A student who is a candidate under Regulation 24(d) shall give notice of the subject by a date announced by the Faculty Board, which shall be not later than the first weekday after the division of the Easter Term in the year next preceding the examination.

After giving notice as required above, a candidate shall submit the proposed title of the project to the Secretary of the Faculty Board, in accordance with any instructions issued by the Board and according to the timetable set out in Schedule E.

(c) Optional dissertations

Every candidate who wishes to offer such a dissertation shall submit the proposed title to the Secretary of the Faculty Board, in accordance with any instructions issued by the Board and according to the timetable set out in Schedule E. A candidate shall obtain the approval of the proposed title by the Faculty Board according to the timetable set out in Schedule E. When the Faculty Board have approved a title, no change may subsequently be made in it, except that a candidate who has elected to offer an optional dissertation may apply to the Faculty Board for permission to revise the title of that dissertation; such an application shall be submitted not later than the second Friday of the Full Lent Term next preceding the examination. A candidate who has elected to offer two papers and a dissertation, rather than three papers, under Regulation 24(a), (b), or (c), or three papers and a dissertation, rather than four papers, under Regulation 24(d), and who subsequently fails to obtain the approval of the title of the proposed dissertation by the due date, or who fails to submit the dissertation by the due date, shall be required to offer in the examination either three papers or four papers, as the case may be.

(d) A year abroad project shall be written in English, except that quotations from primary sources must be in the language of the original. An optional dissertation may be written in a modern foreign language instead of English if the Faculty Board so agree.

(e) A year abroad project may take two forms. If in the form of a dissertation, it shall normally be of not less than 7,000 words and in any case not more than 8,000 words in length. If in the form of a translation project, it shall normally be of not less than 6,000 words and in any case not more than 7,000 words in length. An optional dissertation shall normally be of not less than 8,000 words and in any case not more than 10,000 words in length.

(f) The word limits specified in sub-paragraph (e) above include notes and appendices but exclude bibliography. A project or dissertation shall be typewritten, except where a non-Roman or symbolic typeface is necessary and cannot be provided; in such a case hand-written or photocopied extracts may be inserted. A project or dissertation within the field of comparative studies shall relate to at least two languages. Each candidate will be required to sign a declaration that the project or dissertation is her or his own work, unaided except as may be specified in the declaration, and that it does not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose.

(g) Two copies of the year abroad project or optional dissertation shall be submitted, in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Faculty Board, so as to reach the Secretary of the Faculty Board by the date specified in Schedule E.

(h) A candidate may be called for viva voce examination on the subject of his or her year abroad project or optional dissertation; the viva voce examination shall be conducted in English, or, in the case of a optional dissertation which is written in a foreign language, in the language in which the dissertation is written.

SCHEDULE E

By amending the title of this Schedule to read 'Requirements for year abroad projects and optional dissertations in Part II' and by replacing the reference to compulsory dissertations by a reference to year abroad projects.

Table of Contents

	(i)	A student who is a candidate under Regulation 24(a) shall give notice of the subject by a date announced by the Faculty Board, which shall be not later than the first weekday after the division of the Easter Term in the year next but one preceding the examination. If, after giving such notice, a candidate subsequently wishes to revise her or his choice of subject and to offer a project on a subject that falls within a general area different from that notified, he or she must seek the permission of the Faculty Board not later than the division of the Full Lent Term in the year next preceding the examination.
	(ii)	A student who is a candidate under Regulation 24(d) shall give notice of the subject by a date announced by the Faculty Board, which shall be not later than the first weekday after the division of the Easter Term in the year next preceding the examination.